


long live the king (better than my dad)

by Livinei



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, LISTEN. THERES NO WAY LANCER DOESNT HAVE TRAUMA. and also im like, SO, SOME FEELS AND SOME COMFORT SEEKING FROM ACTUAL DAD RK, pretty sure he get some anxiety once his new position's responsibility sinks in, rouxls kaard is a Best Dad even when his brain is fucking switched off because hes asleep, the night following the day the fountain was destroyed and lancer became king
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 03:37:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16632173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livinei/pseuds/Livinei
Summary: Evening rolls into night, everyone goes home, he goes to his room, and...For the first time that day, Lancer is really alone, and he soon realizes that it’s not really a welcome thing. He lays on his bed, not able to fall asleep, and thinks he should be joyful, he should be happy!So maybe he feels a little like he’s just stepped off a too quickly spinning carousel now that there’s no one to tell him what to do.So maybe he’s not entirely sure how he should act in order to be a good king, maybe the responsibility of what he’s taken on that is starting to finally sink in is making him somewhat anxious, but he’ll figure it out.





	long live the king (better than my dad)

It goes well, at first. People cheer him on. Lancer changes some laws that his father had made, he tries to listen to what the Darkners tell him - but everyone is so exhilarated by the fall of the tyrant that right now they don’t think much about what  _ he  _ could do as King, so Lancer isn’t sure what they expect from him -, he even already restores the puzzle people that his dad had fired, to their jobs.

(“My Dad made you replace the puzzle guys, right?” Lancer asks, a small frown on his face. Rouxls Kaard looks at him.

“Indeed.”

Lancer is quiet for a few seconds.

“...Is it difficult? I mean, not having any help,” he asks, after a moment of pondering.

Rouxls blinks, surprised. He hadn’t ever thought that would be anything that the young spade would consider. Then again, he’s not  _ that _ surprised. Lancer has always been more thoughtful than his father ever could be.

Is it difficult being the only person responsible for the work that would (and should) normally be divided between tens and tens of people, with a merciless tyrant as a boss? Quite. It was why Rouxls had opted for messing up the solutions of the puzzles that were already established by the previous workers, instead of trying to replace them all with completely new and harder puzzles.  _ That _ would have been simply unrealistic, too much work for one person to accomplish in time, and he’s not sure why the King had ever thought that was a good idea. But, well.

“T’isn’t…preferable,” he admits, brushing a stray strand of hair away from his eye, “This job, the way it’s supposed to be done, isn’t really meanteth for just one persone.”

Lancer looks him in the eye, and gnaws on his lip. His gaze is more earnest than Rouxls has ever seen it.

“Then should I give the previous guys back their jobs? And you can still be, like, supervisor? Would that be good?”

“I think it wouldst be a very wise idea,” Rouxls smiles.)

But it doesn’t last forever. Evening rolls into night, everyone goes home, he goes to his room, and...

For the first time that day, Lancer is really alone, and he soon realizes that it’s not really a welcome thing. He lays on his bed, not able to fall asleep, and thinks he should be  _ joyful _ , he should be happy!

Things aren’t bad.

They restored the balance of light and dark. His new friends (!!!) promised to visit soon, he’ll see them again (and maybe he’ll finally learn Blue Person’s name then). He is the king now, he released all the people his dad has imprisoned, and, yes, he had to lock up his dad but- he’ll make sure he’s being taken care of in prison! Lancer doesn’t want to be mean towards him. His dad just needs to be locked away from other people is all.

Indeed, a lot has changed, but not everything – the Darkners are all still here. Rouxls Kaard is still here. There’s plenty to let him feel like everything is normal.

So maybe he feels a little like he’s just stepped off a too quickly spinning carousel now that there’s no one to tell him what to do. 

So maybe he’s not entirely sure how he should act in order to be a  _ good king _ , maybe the responsibility of what he’s taken on that is starting to finally sink in is making him somewhat anxious, but he’ll figure it out.

Things are good.

But he lays under his blanket, and he doesn’t want to close his eyes because as soon as he does it feels like the darkness is trying to remind him of the not good parts.

He- he had to lock up his dad! Why, why couldn’t he be reasoned with? Why couldn’t he listen? Is Lancer going to end up this way too? Is this what comes with being the king? If so, he doesn’t want to be king. And how is he supposed to do what’s best for all these people who rely on him now? How will he know? Did his dad know that he didn’t make good decisions?

_ His dad. _

_ His dad, his dad, his- _ Lancer doesn’t want to think about it, but he can’t  _ not _ , he can’t not feel the harsh, unloving hand gripping his neck, can’t not hear the cold, wild, completely  _ serious _ threats to let him fall to his death if his friends didn’t comply –  _ his dad _ . He can’t get  _ rid _ of the feeling of betrayal, of devouring helplessness, of complete insignificance. Fear. He can’t stop feeling so incredibly small that he might just fall through his father’s fingers on his own and splatter against the hard ground and die.

And now he’s king and his dad is gone and every foundation has been broken and he’s not sure what’s right and what’s wrong anymore-

It was easier to wiggle past these thoughts when there was something happening, when it wasn’t night, when someone was with him.

Lancer stands up, swiping away the pesky little tears in his eyes. Are kings allowed to cry? His dad didn’t like it when he cried, and he was just a prince then.

This won’t do. This room is empty and thought-encouraging.

He shuffles out of his room and ventures to the quarters next to his.

“Lesser Dad?” he whispers, peeking past the bedroom doorframe. There’s no response, which was to be expected since it’s really late and Lancer totally shouldn’t be up right now. The only thing he can hear is breathing.

He tiptoes up to Rouxls’ bed. 

The man is asleep. He’s lying on his back, one leg having escaped the blanket and hanging over the edge of the bed. Compared to the usual extravagant suit, the plain grey T-shirt he’s wearing now seems extremely contrasting. 

“Hey, Lesser Dad,” Lancer tries again, quietly, but Rouxls Kaard doesn’t wake up.

That’s fine, Lancer decides. There’s a very unoccupied spot right next to Rouxls’ side, and, well, it wouldn’t be the first time. He climbs over his Lesser Dad’s legs and curls up next to his side, clutching the fabric of his shirt. 

But what words couldn’t accomplish, this does. As Lancer wiggles closer, Rouxls wakes up, looking around with bleary eyes.

“Ugh, wh- Lancer?” he mumbles, giving the kid a confused gaze and instinctively bringing one arm around him when Lancer’s only response is a sniffle.

“Wh’s wrong?” Rouxls asks, still half-asleep, and feels Lancer press his face against his ribs. 

He doesn’t know about  _ that, _ he doesn’t know about  _ I’ll drop him off the edge and let him splatter unless you all KNEEL,  _ but he does know that being in a position of this much power and responsibility can spawn a lot of anxiety. And despite being a fresh new King, it’s still a kid. It’s still Lancer. And Lancer needs someone to treat him as Lancer, so Rouxls scoots just a little bit to the left to make him more room. 

“I don’t know what to…do,” Lancer mutters into his side, and Rouxls lets his own head fall back onto the pillow.

“You won’t have to figureth ‘t out on thine own, youngling,” he replies, making a genuine and fruitless attempt to get his brain to actually wake up since it seems like Lancer is having a crisis. “Thee haveth lots of people in your cornere who support you. And I shall help you, too, whenev’r you needeth it.” 

It seems to have been a right thing to say even if he was more asleep than awake, since Lancer seems to calm down. 

“What if I mess up?”

“All kings do. Belike you’ll maketh mistakes, and then we’ll fixeth them. T’is hardly the end of the worlde.”

“What if-” Lancer starts, but then cuts himself off. Rouxls would say he doesn’t say anything because he’s considerately waiting for the boy to gather his thoughts, but in reality he doesnt push because he’s almost fully sleeping now. 

“Will you help me be a better king than my Dad was?” Lancer asks instead, after a few moments, and, thank god, Rouxls doesn’t need to be awake to know the answer to this one.

“Thee already are.”

**Author's Note:**

> continuously hating RK's fuckin speech tic (but also loving that he actually alternates between thees and yous so that i don't only have to use the shakespeare version)  
> anyways thank you for reading and uhhh leave a comment to let me know what you thought! <3


End file.
